REGION Friday, May 24, 2019 LOCAL BRIEFING Redcrane Schmidt PHS students named Ford Scholars Two seniors at Pendle- ton High School, Morning- starr Redcrane and Vanessa Schmidt, have been named Ford Scholars by The Ford Family Foundation of Oregon. Redcrane is a member of National Honor Society and competed for the PHS var- sity cross-country and track teams. She will attend Ore- gon State University to major in biology and hopes to attend medical or dental school. Red- crane is grateful to her family for their support and encour- agement, as well as Gregg, Cooley and her teachers. “This scholarship is truly life changing, without it I would never have been able to attend my dream college. Being a Ford Scholar is truly a blessing. The biggest thank you to The Ford Family Foun- dation for helping make my biggest dream a reality,” said Redcrane. Schmidt was on the var- sity Rhythmic Mode dance team and team captain for two years. A member of National Honor Society and PHS Leadership, Schmidt will attend University of Portland, major in biology, and wants to attend medi- cal school. She thanked Jill Gregg, PHS ASPIRE coor- dinator, her mother, Gloria Schmidt, and PHS teacher Sonia Cooley. “I am very blessed and honored to be a Ford Scholar. I am able to go to my dream school while being debt free! I would like to thank The Ford Family Foundation for this amazing opportunity; they have changed my future and whole life for the better,” Schmidt said. The Ford Scholars Pro- gram offers a comprehen- sive scholarship to help stu- dents succeed in college and beyond. In addition to a generous fi nancial award, recipients receive academic guidance, leadership devel- opment, personal and profes- sional support and access to the Ford Family alumni net- work. Up to 125 renewable scholarships are awarded each year to students from Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. ASPIRE Coordinator Gregg said, “Being recog- nized as a Ford Scholar is a great achievement because not only are these students strong inside and outside the classroom, but they’ve been selected because of their potential as well. The Ford Scholarship makes college a fi nancial reality for these students.” For more information about the Ford Scholars Pro- gram, visit https://www.tfff. org/sites/default/files/Ford- ScholarsInfoDec2018.pdf Spring chinook fi shing ends Saturday on Umatilla River PENDLETON — Ore- gon fi sh managers announced spring chinook angling on the Umatilla River ends Saturday. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife origi- nally set June 30 as the last day for chinook fi shing sea- son on the river, but low returns prompted the early end. The closure runs from the Highway 730 bridge to the boundary of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Bill Duke, ODFW district fi sh biologist in Pendleton, said the the agency does not like to reduce fi shing oppor- tunities, “but we need to ensure adequate broodstock will be collected to continue the current level of hatchery spring chinook production for the Umatilla River.” Just more than 300 adult spring chinook have crossed at Threemile Dam, accord- ing to ODFW, will below the pre-season adult return pre- diction of 2,300 fi sh. For the latest regulations and other fi shing opportuni- ties in the Northeast Zone, visit https://myodfw.com/rec- reation-report/fi shing-report/ northeast-zone. Merkley schedules town halls in Eastern Oregon counties PORTLAND — Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley will hold town halls in Harney, Grant, Wheeler and Gilliam counties next week. Merkley, a Democrat, plans to update locals on his work in Washington, D.C., answer their questions and invite their suggestions about how to tackle the challenges facing Oregon and America. “In our ‘We the People’ democracy, town hall meet- ings are an essential tool for me to hear from Oregonians and represent their interests back in D.C.,” Merkley said in the announcement. “I invite everyone in these counties to come and discuss what we need to do to strengthen our state and our nation.” Below is the schedule for the public meetings: •Harney County town hall — Wednesday, May 29, at 4 p.m. at the Lincoln Audi- torium, 550 N. Court Ave., Burns. •Grant County town hall — Thursday, May 30, 1t 9 a.m. at the Madden Broth- ers Performing Arts Center auditorium, 116 N.W. Bridge St., John Day. •Wheeler County town hall — Thursday, May 30, at 2 p.m. at the Wheeler High School gym, 600 B St., Fossil. •Gilliam County town hall — Thursday, May 30, at 5:30 p.m. at the Gron- quist Building, Columbia Room, 11650 Railroad Ave., Arlington. Merkley has held a town hall in each of Oregon’s 36 counties every year since taking offi ce in 2009. These town halls will be his 388th, 389th, 390th and 391st as a U.S. senator. Umatilla National Forest prepares for Memorial weekend PENDLETON — Staff of local national forests cau- tioned their visitors this Memorial weekend that not all roads, trails and camp- grounds are open. Shaded areas and cut banks on roads at higher ele- vations may still have impas- sible snowdrifts, and forest staff have not yet worked on most hiking and motorized trails, according to a news release from the Umatilla National Forest. The North Fork John Day Ranger District closed For- est Service Road 3963, which travels to Bone Point, due to downed trees. Contract crews will be in the area clearing trees as conditions allow. For- est crews are working to open certain lower elevation recre- ation sites and campgrounds in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Some of the more popular campgrounds that will open for the holiday weekend, but some camp- grounds will remain closed. Amy Linn, acting forest recreation staff offi cer, said hazard tree removal and other safety issues take priority and campground conditions will vary as the seasonal work- force comes on. Most campgrounds charge a fee of $8-$24 per night and could impose other fees for additional vehicles at a single campsite. To fi nd out which campgrounds are open and closed and the status of trails and roads, contact any Uma- tilla National Forest offi ce or visit the website at: http:// www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla. Equipment caused power loss HERMISTON — Power loss Wednesday affected thousands of residents in Umatilla, Stanfi eld, and Echo, Hermiston. The Uma- tilla Electric Cooperative reported equipment at its substation east of Stanfi eld caused the disruption. The power cut out at 4:52 p.m. Wednesday. The cooperative reported the loss affected nine substations and 13,165 meters. Crews restored power to all customers at 6:38 p.m. Eastern Oregon towns top affordability list PENDLETON — Four Eastern Oregon cities top a recent list of Oregon’s most affordable places to live, with Hermiston taking the No. 1 spot. The ranking comes from HomeSnacks, a web-based company in North Carolina that seeks to deliver “bite- sized infotainment about where you live.” The com- pany stated it used median housing costs, median income and overall cost of living from the United States Census Bureau to craft its list of “The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Oregon For 2019.” Hermiston was on top with a income of $50,694 and the median home value of $148,200. Baker City was second with a median income of $42,006 and the median home value of $121,600. Pendle- ton took third with a median income of $47,851 and median home value of $150,500. And Umatilla came in fourth with a median income of $38,796 and median home value of $114,000. Most of the remainder of the list were small towns on the west side of Oregon. Dal- las was No. 5, Sheridan No. 6, Creswell No. 7, North Bend No. 8 and Scappose No.9. Keizer fi nished off the list with a median income of $60,722 and median home value of $214,400. The sub- urb of Salem also has the larg- est population of any town on the list at 37,910. East Oregonian A3 Hermiston Downtown Association kicks off ‘summer series’ with art show By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The Hermiston Down- town District is kicking things into high gear this summer with a full slate of events. In addition to its First Thursday events — featuring special deals at downtown businesses the fi rst Thursday of every month — this year the group of downtown busi- ness owners is also partner- ing with the city of Hermis- ton and Greater Hermiston Area Chamber of Commerce on a new slate of activities meant to draw more visitors downtown. The fi rst of those events took place on Saturday, with an art festival that offered up live entertainment, food and classes for painting, fl o- ral arranging and cookie dec- orating. Local artists’ work was also featured, and prizes were awarded in the profes- sional and high school divi- sions (see glance box). “We thought it turned out really well,” Hermiston Downtown District president Judy Pederson said. Hermiston artist Mary Corp said the juror for the event remarked to her that there was “a lot of quality art” to be found there. “I was happy with the amount of participation we had,” she said. “I would always love to see more, but we had a strong group of artists.” She said she would encour- age local artists to plan ahead to join next year’s festival. The event was centered around Hermiston’s festi- val street that opened in June Photo contributed by Judy Pederson A child works on a painting project at this year’s Hermiston Art Festival. 2018 next to city hall. The festival street will play host to other events this summer, including a brand new Cork and Barrel event on June 29 featuring locally sourced appetizers, craft brews and wines. July 13 will be Spudfest, a family-friendly activity day previously known as Funfest. Pederson said the downtown association is taking the lead on the event this year, instead of the chamber, and decided to return to the name by which it was known decades ago. On Aug. 3 the association will host a “pre-party” down- town prior to the Umatilla County Fair parade. After the fair, on Aug. 17, the downtown district is launching a new event known as Melonfest, which will cele- brate all things watermelon. It will include bathtub races in tubs painted like watermelon, a watermelon costume con- test, seed-spitting contest and more. Other events planned for the summer include a “Farm to Junk” antique/vintage shopping event and a Harvest Fest in September. “We’ve got a great sum- mer lineup,” Pederson said. She said the district will be looking for vendors and volunteers for each event. For more information call 541-667-5026. ART FESTIVAL WINNERS Winners of the Hermiston Art Festival on May 18 were: Professional division: Laura Gable, fi rst place Michelle Walchli, second place Pam Sharp, third place, Justin Stark, Jasmine Lei Hermalinda Ledesma Jamin Zamudio Araceli Medina Kyra Gomez Bryon Bonifer Anniston McGraw honorable mention Andrea Eiden, people’s choice High school gold star winners: Ashley Cameron Kamryn Aldred Pendleton police arrest man on 13 counts of child pornography photographs depicting chil- dren from about 2 to 7 years old in sexual acts. Steven Moses Enko, of From there, Bowen Pendleton, is in jail on 13 obtained records for social counts of child pornography. media websites and followed The case began for Pend- a trail to Enko. leton police on Pendleton police May 29, 2018, on Wednesday eve- when detective ning arrested Enko, 38, Howard Bowen and booked him into received a “Cyber the Umatilla County Tipline Report” Jail, Pendleton, on 13 and related infor- counts of fi rst-degree mation from the encouraging child sex Enko Oregon Depart- abuse. He remains ment of Justice in the jail in lieu of about apparent $100,000 bail. child pornography, accord- Pendleton police Lt. ing to a search warrant affi - Charles Bynum said the davit. The material included investigation into Enko By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian continues. Also, the federal child pornography case against Jason Newsom of Pendleton could be coming to a close. FBI agents last July arrested Newsom, 43, on three counts of transportation of child pornography and one of possession of child por- nography. The federal court since then granted several delays for the trial, and in April granted the defense’s latest request to push back the trial from a May 7 start. Court records show Fed- eral Judge Michael H. Simon reset the three-day trial to start July 9 for “purposes of plea negotiations.” St. Anthony Provider Spotligh t Aimee Rogers, MD is now accepting new patients. Urologist Education: University of Louisville School of Medicine, Board Certi- fied Urology 5/24-5/26 Cineplex Show Times Insurance Accepted: Most major insurances, Medicare, Medicaid $5 Classic Movie Showing Wednesday at 12PM THE JERK Special Services: Urology Aladdin (PG) 1:00p* 3:50p* 6:40p 9:30p John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum (R) 1:20p* 4:10p 7:00p 9:50p Avengers: Endgame (PG13) 12:00p* 3:40p* 7:20p 9:10p A Dog's Journey (PG) 11:40a* 2:00p* 4:30p 6:50p 9:40p Aimee Rogers, MD 3001 St. Anthony Way Pendleton, OR 97801 Pokemon Detective Pikachu (PG) 11:50a* 2:10p* 4:40p 7:10p Godzilla: King of the Monsters (PG13) Thursday, May 30th • 7:00p, 10:00p Rocketman (R) Thursday, May 30th • 7:00p, 9:40p Call for your appointment today 541.966.0535 * Matinee Pricing wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216 FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.SAHPENDLETON.ORG